Wyoming Commission moves water projects forward

Sep. 21—Wyoming County Commission members moved the Brenton/Baileysville water extension project one step forward during their meeting Wednesday by dissolving both the Marianna and Brenton public service districts.

The project will extend the Pineville water system into Brenton and Baileysville.

Dissolving the two PSDs is part of the project as area residents will be served by the Pineville system once construction is complete.

In 2022, costs for the Brenton/Baileysville water extension increased by more than $4 million due to supply issues created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

At that time, commissioners approved $250,000 for the project from the county's first round of American Rescue Plan funding.

The American Rescue Plan funding is federal money provided in response to the economic downturn created by the Covid-19 pandemic. County and municipal governments must use the federal monies within a certain time frame to fund infrastructure projects — water, sewer, broadband, roads.

The Brenton/Baileysville project will serve about 260 new customers.

Before the Brenton/Baileysville extension can move into the construction phase, improvements to Pineville's water treatment plant must be completed. The county committed $25,000 to the upgrade project.

Total project cost is estimated at $8.3 million, according to Eric Combs, Region I Planning and Development Council project manager/GIS specialist.

—As part of another water project, commissioners will once again conduct an income survey of the Hanover water extension project area.

The proposed Hanover project will be completed in phases and will be served by the Justice water system, which buys processed water from Gilbert.

Both the Justice and Gilbert water systems are part of the Mingo County Public Service District, which will oversee the Gilbert-Hanover water extension project.

Both the Justice water system and the Gilbert water plant will have to be upgraded to serve the 215 new Wyoming County customers in the extension project, according to officials.

For nearly two decades, county officials have began several projects to bring water to the Hanover and Coal Mountain areas as well as North Spring and Ikes Fork, including an initial plan to serve the entire area with water from R.D. Bailey Lake.

Despite the efforts of various county officials over the years, the myriad plans have been scrapped for different reasons and the areas involved in the original plan have now been separated to become part of several ongoing water projects currently in various stages of development.

"They've been income-surveyed to death," Jason Mullins, commission president, told Combs.

The most recent survey was done in 2019.

Commissioners discussed several methods of completing the income surveys again.

To make the project eligible for grant funding, at least 80 percent of the residents in the project area will have to provide an income survey, Combs explained.

Businesses and churches do not have to participate in the surveys.

The project has a good chance of being completed this time, Combs said, because the project already has committed funding.

Combs said $1.8 million has been committed thus far, with the total project cost estimated at $7.9 million.

Phase one will take the project from the Mingo County line to Godfrey's Corner in Hanover, then along WV 97 to Little Branch Road, Combs said.

The new customers will include Huff Consolidated Elementary and Middle School as well as the R.D. Bailey Lake and Wildlife Management Area.

—In other business, Oceana Mayor Tom Evans asked the commission to provide some financial assistance for several projects.

He said the town was currently overwhelmed with expenses.

Evans asked for a $60,000 loan that the town would repay.

He told commissioners $10,000 will go toward demolishing two buildings in town that had become health hazards.

Another $20,000 will be used to address a water plant issue and the remaining $30,000 would go toward the town's debts.

Commissioners agreed to provide $10,000 for the clean-up and the $20,000 for the water plant from the county's American Rescue Plan funding. The town will not have to repay that portion, Mullins told Evans.

However, the $30,000 for the debt will have to be repaid.

Evans said the town will repay the money in $2,000 monthly installments.